When families that own dogs take off a week-end or are away from home for an even longer period, they must either take the dog with them, kennel the dog or have a neighbor come over to feed the dog at appropriate time intervals. Kennels cannot always be relied upon to properly care for the dog nor can neighbors be totally relied upon. As a consequence, if the pet dog is very valuable the family will take the dog with them but such limits their activities to places where pets are accepted.
In the case of certain commercial operations, watch dogs are provided to guard a plant over a week-end. In order that the dogs be fed, it is usually necessary to hire someone to come in over the week-end and feed the dogs. This is an additional expense over and above normal company operations.
The foregoing problems have prompted the innovation of various types of pet feeding apparatuses which function automatically to feed a pet such as a dog at periodic intervals over extended periods of time. The problem with such automatic pet feeders as have been available heretofore is their relative complexity. Many such mechanisms utilize electric motors, storage water tanks, elaborate food metering arrangements, and so forth. Undoubtedly the reason that such automatic pet feeders have not come into wide use is this complicated structure which works against any type of continuous reliable operation. Moreover, such prior art structures as are available are relatively expensive.